Tight Race Shaping Up at Vermont Carnival

Friday, January 23

Stowe Mountain Resort and Trapp Family Lodge, Vt.

TBA

Dartmouth College

Day One

1/23/2015 4:45:00 PM | Skiing

By: Dartmouth

STOWE, Vt. — The Dartmouth ski team claimed victories in two of the four events on a beautiful first day of the Vermont Carnival at Mount Mansfield Ski Club and the Trapp Family Lodge, and finished the day with 440 points, nestled tightly between Vermont (457) atop the leaderboard and New Hampshire (426) close behind.

The freshman duo of Foreste Peterson (Berkeley, Calif.) and Libby Gibson (Jamaica, Vt.) shined in the women's giant slalom, taking the top two spots on the podium with the closest skier more than two seconds slower. Peterson claimed her first carnival victory and second podium stop by completing both of her runs in under 1:06, something no other racer could do. Her combined time of 2:11.41 edged out her classmate Gibson, who had the fastest run of the day her first time down the slope in 1:05.43, by 17 hundredths of a second. A third rookie in Kelly Moore (Ottawa, Ontario) rounded out the scoring for the Big Green with a terrific second run to vault up 10 spots into sixth place at 2:15.77, and the trio's 134 points easily outdistanced UNH's 109. Sophomore Maisie Ide (Minneapolis, Minn.) also finished in the top 10 by posting a time of 2:15.27 to finish eighth.

For the second straight week, sophomore Patrick Caldwell (Lyme, N.H.) won the men's 10K Free to help the Big Green edge the host Catamounts for the team victory, 114-111. Caldwell left little doubt as to the outcome, even with the individual start, finishing the first lap more than 30 seconds faster than any other competitor. The second and final time around was more of the same as the All-American glided across the finish line in 24:30.7, more than a minute in front of Vermont's Rogan Brown (25:38.8). Another sophomore, Fabian Stocek (Jilemnice, Czech Republic), took seventh overall in 25:53.9, while senior captain Silas Talbot (Anchorage, Alaska) was little more than a second from finishing in the top 10, posting a time of 26:13.1 in 11th.

In the men's giant slalom, Dartmouth placed two among the top 10 with freshman Kevyn Read (Calgary, Alberta) leading the Big Green skiers in fifth place. After the first time down the slopes, Read was 10th in the standings, but an excellent second run gave him a combined time of 2:09.30, just one hundredth of a second behind Coley Oliver of New Hampshire. Sophomore Dylan Brooks (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) was consistently solid in his two runs to claim seventh in 2:09.69, and freshman Brian McLaughlin (Topsfield, Mass.) finished up in 2:10.63, good for 14th. Middlebury's Robert Cone took the top spot on the podium in 2:08.12, but Vermont won the event with 128 points. The next three teams were bunched together with Middlebury second (105), UNH third (102) and Dartmouth fourth (101).

Junior Corey Stock (Lincoln, Mass.) led the women's Nordic team in the 5K Free in 14:46.8, while junior Emily Hannah (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) finished 12th in 15:09.3 and senior Carly Wynn (Queensbury, N.Y.) crossed the finish line in 16th with a time of 15:14.0. The Big Green compiled 91 points to take fourth place in the team standings with the Catamounts racking up 121 to beat out New Hampshire (112) for the team victory.

The 16-team field will reconvene on Saturday morning to conclude the carnival. The day begins at 9 a.m. with the men's first run in the slalom, while the Nordic races start half an hour later with the men's 15K Classic.